Numerous germicidal or disinfectant solutions are known to the art for disinfection of solid surfaces of various types, including hard surfaces such as metals, glass, ceramics, wooden, terrazo and composition flooring, and numerous other hard surfaces; as well as for disinfection of soft surfaces such as, for example, the human skin, tissues, and the like, for swabbing the skin of a patient prior to surgery, the washing of a surgeon's or technician's hands, and in related and unrelated environments. They function with various degrees of efficacy, but their purpose and objective is to effect the killing or inactivation of surface bacteria, microorganisms, protozoa, molds and viruses of many and numerous types.
My present invention is concerned with that type of germicidal solution, which depends mainly or essentially on iodine for its disinfective utility. Numbers of such germicidal solutions are known to, and have been proposed by, the art; and some are in current active use with, generally speaking, effective results. One of such commercially available iodine-based disinfectant additives is known under the designation of Iodophors. Another of such iodine-based disinfecting solutions, which is similar to the Iodophors in only certain of its characteristics and which is in present relatively widespread use, is that sold under the designation or trademark "Betadine" (Purdue-Fredericks). This is a Povidone-Iodine product, Povidone being a common designation for polyvinylpyrrolidone (which is also commonly called PVP). The manufacture of PVP-Iodine products involves procedures which, generally speaking, are time-consuming and difficult to control and, therefore, cause such products to be expensive, particularly where such products have a relatively high concentration of iodine, which retains its solubility in the solution in which it is prepared and sold. Iodine is soluble in water in the amount of 300 mg. per liter of water at 25.degree. C. (Handbook of Chemistry and Physics). A typical or illustrative "Betadine" type of product contains an approximately 10% mixture of PVP and iodine, with the proportions of PVP and iodine being somewhat variable. The PVP appears to function as a chelating agent and surfactant; and it is essentially the agent which permits the relatively high concentration of iodine to remain in solution. By high concentrations of iodine, in products of the "Betadine" type, I mean concentrations in the general range of about 1% or somewhat above 1% by weight, in solution in the aqueous PVP. In the production of the "Betadine" products, it is understood that it appears to be required that the PVP be dry-ground with sublimated or resublimated crystalline iodine until said iodine is completely or essentially completely dispersed. The resulting mixture or dispersion must then be mixed in a high-speed shear-type mixer with hot water to arrive at the 10% PVP-Iodine level. The final PVP-Iodine compositions commonly or generally contain in the approximate range of about 1% iodine in solution.